About the Author

Blake A. Hoena grew up in central Wisconsin, where, in his youth, he wrote stories about robots conquering the Moon and trolls lumbering around in the woods behind his parent’s house  and the fact that the trolls were hunting for little boys had nothing to do with Blake’s pesky younger brothers. Later, he moved to Minnesota to pursue a Masters of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing from Minnesota State University, Mankato. Since graduating, Blake has written more than forty books for children, including retellings of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and the Perseus and Medusa myth. Most recently, he’s working on graphic novels for Sports Illustrated Kids and writing stories about superheroes.

Joseph Rudyard Kipling was born in Bombay, India, on December 30, 1865. He is best known for his short story collections The Jungle Book, published in 1894, and Just So Stories, published in 1902. He wrote a variety of other short stories, including 'Kim' and 'The Man Who Would Be King,' and many poems. In 1907, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature, becoming the first English-language writer and youngest person to win the award. On January 18, 1936, he died in London at age 70.

Editorial Reviews

The insatiable curiosity of the very young is nothing new. Neither is the famous tale of the unfortunate elephant and the punishing crocodile by Rudyard Kipling. What is new, however, is the retelling of this timeless tale in graphic novel format that will appeal to an entirely fresh generation of readers. The story of the curious short nosed elephant that asks one too many questions and ends up with his nose in the mouth of a crocodile is amusingly told with a slightly modern voice and the graphics compliment the mood nicely. The book is set up as a nonfiction book which could be confusing to young readers, who might not be able to distinguish fact from fiction when presented in this way, with actual facts interspersed with the fictitious. (Though it could be used in the classroom in an exercise to help learn the difference.) The extra material at the end of the book, such as discussion questions and related creative writing prompts, are well done and there is also a brief biography of Kipling as well.